RAPID CITY -- St. Thomas More used a late run to pull away and beat Mount Vernon/Plankinton 55-43 Friday at the Class A state boys basketball tournament. Leading 40-37 with 2:23 left, St. Thomas More (14-10) got two free throws on a foul, two more on a bench technical and a 3-pointer on the awarded possession. It was part of 9-0 run. The Titans trailed by one at the end of the third quarter but were outshot 24-13 in the final frame. "They're size gave us some problems," Mount Vernon/Plankinton head coach Eric Denning said. "They made a nice run and are a good team." P.J.

ST. LOUIS -- Robert Kokesh suffered his first loss of the season in the 174-pound quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Friday in St. Louis. Kokesh dropped a 3-2 decision to Pittsburgh's Tyler Wilps. He has a 36-1 record on the season. The Wagner native will wrestle again later today in the wrestlebacks. Check The Daily Republic later for more NCAA wrestling coverage.

VERMILLION -- With a 68-58 win over Creighton on Thursday, the University of South Dakota women's basketball team will advance to the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament. USD (26-7) will take on Northern Colorado (21-12) on Sunday. The Coyotes were led by Nicole Seekamp with 21 points, and Raeshel Contreras added 14. USD shot 45 percent from the field, 50 percent from long range and 94 percent from the line. Creighton (17-14) was led by Alexis Akin-Otiko with 23 points and six rebounds.

Nate Sievert, 25, of Mitchell, bowled a 300 on Thursday during the Palace City League at the Village Bowl in Mitchell. Sievert, who plays for team Muth Electric, had a four-game series of 1,020. His games were 225, 258, 237 and 300. This is his eighth 300 and second one this year.

The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team swept Dakota State University on Thursday in Madison, winning 1-0 and 5-4. In the opener, Tyler Waddle had a double, while Cole Wenande, an Alexandria native, Chris Combs and Neil Nagle each had a hit. DWU's Joey Fitzgerald got the win on the mound, allowing four hits and three strikeouts. In the second game, DWU (8-6) rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the top of the fourth inning and took the lead in the sixth inning. Nagle was 2-for-3 with a double, single and three RBIs, and Combs added a hit and two RBIs.

The 28th annual Three Class Shoot Out basketball all-star game will be held on March 28 at the McCook Central Auditorium in Salem. All three classes in boys and girls will be represented by the top seniors in South Dakota. The first game is at 2 p.m. between the AA and A girls. The 3:30 p.m. game is between the B girls and the winner of the first game. The B and A boys will square off at 5:15 p.m., followed by a dunk contest. The 7 p.m. game will be the winner of the first boys game and the AA boys.